philippagregoryfandomcom-20200214-history
Ralph Megson
Ralph Megson is a character from the Wideacre trilogy. Appearance Ralph is described as over six feet tall with black hair, dark eyes, and a muscular build. Personality From Beatrice's childhood recollection, Ralph was mischievous as a child, who often pulled pranks on her and admire red her beauty. As a teenager, Ralph remained infatuated with Beatrice and pursued her, being indifferent to the fact the difference in their social classes prevented their relationship. Up until Beatrice's betrayal, Ralph genuinely loved her and wanted to live with her in Wideacre. However, this desire made him greedy to the point he murdered her father, the Squire, which he later regretted. After being betrayed and left handicapped by Beatrice, Ralph spent the rest of his life helping the poor and leading revolts and riots against the wealthy, and achieved revenge by killing Beatrice, which he doesn't regret. Ralph remained close to Celia and John as the two raised Julia and Richard, whom Ralph secretly watched from afar to protect them. Ralph cares deeply for Julia but despises Richard for his tyrannical treatment towards others and, upon learning the extent of Richard's crimes, murders him to save Julia. Ralph later watches over Sarah as she return to Wideacre. History Ralph was born in a small cottage on Wideacre as the son of the gamekeeper and Meg, a village witch. Since childhood, Ralph was infatuated with Beatrice and sought her attention by pulling pranks in her. At age six, they became close friends during one summer until Ralph was forced into working by his father. Ralph and Beatrice reunited at age fourteen, and quickly fell in love. They became lovers but their relationship was interrupted by Harry, who caught them making love and tried to punish Ralph, who overpowered Harry and proceeded to beat him at Harry's request. Ralph ad Beatrice were estranged for a while until he suggests they take Wideacre for themselves by murdering her father and she agrees without thinking about it. By the time she realizes what they had agreed on, Ralph had already murdered her father and made it look like a accident. Oblivious to Ralph, Beatrice plots revenge. They sleep together one last time before Beatrice lures him into a mantrap and leaves him for dead. Ralph manages to escape with is mother's help, though he loses his legs as a result. Ralph goes into hiding and plots revenge against Beatrice. Ralph spends the next few years leading revolts and riots against the wealthy while helping the poor. Ralph becomes known as the "Culler" for this. When he learns the villagers of Wideacre have been left starving and homeless due to Beatrice mortgaging the estate, Ralph heads to Wideacre to stop her. He leads a revolt with the villagers but he himself confronts Beatrice and kills her. Over the next several years, Ralph travels with a group of gypsies to help people in need while secretly keeping tabs on Julia and Richard, Beatrice and Harry's children. Fifteen years after Beatrice's death, Ralph returns to Wideacre and meets Julia and Richard. John MacAndrew, Beatrice's husband, hires Ralph to be Wideacre's manager. Ralph quickly befriends Julia and becomes a close confidant of hers but he is treated with disdain by Richard, whom he comes to loathe for being similar to Beatrice. Although Ralph confesses to Julia that he killed Beatrice in revenge, it doesn't affect their friendship. Ralph comes to suspect that Julia is pregnant and Richard raped her, and he offers to help her get an abortion but she denies she is pregnant. When he later finds out that Julia is in fact pregnant and was forced by Richard to marry him, Ralph is both sad that she didn't tell him the truth and enraged at Richard for his abuse towards Julia. Ralph is allowed to continue work as the manager but he and Richard argue over how the estate should be run, leading Richard to fire him and have him arrested for his previous riots. However, Ralph escapes from prison and returns to Wideacre moments after Julia gives birth to Sarah and kills Richard as Julia's request. He is later by Julia's side when she dies from a fever and agrees to help search for Sarah. Several years later, Ralph and James, Julia's former fiancé, locate Sarah living with a family of gypsies and convince her to return to Wideacre. He teaches her how to run the estate but at the end Sarah decides she doesn't belong at Wideacre and sells it on the market, which Ralph supports and slows her to return to her adoptive family. Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Fictional characters Category:Wideacre characters